Ramalingam Foods is a successful fast food restaurant, It was established by Mr. Ramalingam Venkatesh in south Bombay in year 1965, The establishment was famous for their authentic south Indian freshly cooked food and filter coffee.
During 1975, India went under a political turmoil,and an emergency was imposed, Strict rules were made to sell food items for bare minimum price, Ramalingam Foods was also under pressure and it pushed them to find innovative solutions to sustain in those difficult times.
Ramalingam Foods Started Selling Dosa-Idli Batter & Packets of authentic south indian chutneys from same premises at a very low cost while still making a good margin. These innovative ideas kept them afloat during Emergency time and later it became their main business as people were finding it useful to carry these batter & chutney packets while going back from office and enjoy the delicacies at comfort of their home. In the Year 1990 Mr Vijay Ramalingam (Son Of Mr Venkatesh Ramalingam) started to look after the business, Mr Vijay, as a new generation business man, wanted to grow his business. He wanted to expand his business territory but wet Idli-Dosa batter has very a minimum shelf life also being a perishable item, transportation of the same would have caused problems, thus he came up with an idea to make powder form of Idli-Dosa batter. The new product became an instant hit. Business grew to become a Pan India Business selling varied products having below products in their portfolio:- Instant Dosa Mix, Instant Idli Mix, Instant Gulab Jamun Mix, Instant Laddu Mix, instant coffee powder Instant Dhokla mix and other products of this kind. Currently most products are available in 200 Gms, 500 Gms & 1 Kg Packaging.
Product Details (These are product categories under which many product variants are available)
| Sr. No. | Product Categories | Quantity | Average Price (INR) |
| 1 | North Indian dishes Instant Mix | 200 Gms | 89 |
| 2 | North Indian dishes Instant Mix | 500 Gms | 199 |
| 3 | North Indian dishes Instant Mix | 1000 Gms | 389 |
| 4 | Desert Mixes | 200 Gms | 110 |
| 5 | Desert Mixes | 500 Gms | 249 |
| 6 | Desert Mixes | 1000 Gms | 499 |
| 7 | Chutney Powder | 200 Gms | 75 |
| 8 | Chutney Powder | 500 Gms | 199 |
| 9 | Chutney Powder | 1000 Gms | 329 |
| 10 | South Indian Instant Mix | 200 Gms | 89 |
| 11 | South Indian Instant Mix | 500 Gms | 199 |
| 12 | South Indian Instant Mix | 1000 Gms | 389 |
| 13 | Instant Coffee Mix | 200 Gms | 149 |
Management Noticed that some people are purchasing their Instant mixes domestically (In India) and selling it in foreign countries through their shops primarily in Middle east, Southeast asian countries and England. These shopkeepers are generally People of indian origin settled in those countries, while on their visit to India they / their known people purchase Products in large quantities and ship to respective countries.Some of the restaurants also started using these instant mixes in these countries.
Currently Ramalingam food's operating revenues INR 152 crore for the financial year ending on 31 March, 2019. It's EBITDA has increased by 3.16 % over the previous year. At the same time, it's book networth has increased by 20 %.
Mr Vijay Doesn't have any experience of international business, they have hired your company as business consultant for international market expansion and set aside a budget of INR 50 Crore for International Business expansion for FY 2019-20. During your Initial discussion with them it was clear that Ramalingam Foods doesn't have necessary permissions & Licenses for International business.
As per current plan they don't have sufficient capital and business acumen to enter more than one foreign region at a time thus they have requested your company to suggest one region to start with international expansion along with below assignments,